Carry Me Home
by ToBeHeard
Summary: Rain brought people joy, but it also brought sadness. Lance liked water, everyone knew that. His family knew it, all of team Voltron knew it, even the Balmarans probably knew it. (Team Voltron thinks about what rain means to them- all members of team voltron included not just those tagged)


_Don't come any closer now_

 _I can hear you._

 _These walls I build_

 _I build for you._

Lance liked water, everyone knew that. His family knew it, all of team Voltron knew it, even the Balmarans probably knew it. He liked the soft lapping of the ocean waves back in Cuba, often listening to them contentedly as he fell asleep on the golden sand. He liked the soft pitter patter of rain against his bedroom window, loving the feeling of falling asleep to the repetitive sounds of rain tapping against the glass. He liked warm baths and hot showers.

He revelled in as much water as he could when he joined the Garrison, especially in his first year living away from home in the garrison dorms when weather grew colder and the Garrison heaters broke. He couldn't go to a beach when he was away but sometimes the showers, rain and the jumping in puddles was enough.

In space, however, there were no puddles and there was no rain. Even the showers, though close enough to the ones on earth, weren't the same.

It was all too quiet.

There were no brothers and sisters fighting for the bathroom, no nagging parents complaining about the hot water being used up. Instead the texture was slightly off, the colour was slightly off, and the castle automatically regulated the temperature so Lance couldn't even accidentally burn or freeze himself like he did back home.

It was repetitive and it was different and all Lance could do was outlive the quiet storm in his head and relive his memories of the deep blue sea that he was likely to never see again. _ **  
**_

 _They're keeping the pain_

 _From bleeding and raining_

 _Down on the ones I love_

 _But I am drowning in this blood._

Keith liked the rain too. Not the soft sounds that Lance seemed to yearn for, but rather the loud and roaring storms.

Shiro used to call him a thrill seeker, searching for that adrenaline rush as he'd race out of the door to just stand in the sudden downpour, feeling the rain soak through his clothes and plaster his hair flat.

When he was a child he used to pretend that it was the sky crying with him. He'd do his best to escape the loud voices in his foster homes and just stand in the rain allowing the downpour to wash away his tears. He'd always walk back in momentarily feeling a little better only to be berated for his wet shoes, his wet hair, his wet footprints on the floor. He'd nearly always wish that he could turn right back around and walk back out into the rain and let it cleanse him of his troubles once more.

When he got to the Garrison he had originally attempted to stop, fearing that the wardens would catch him if he snuck out to stand around in the rain like some kind of lunatic. When he managed to get a shared room with Takashi Shirogane of all people, he started to go out into the rain again when everything got too much. When the tests were too hard, when the pressure got too much, when the loneliness would creep back in, he'd just slip on his shoes and stand outside.

Sometimes he wouldn't even wear shoes.

Shiro used to tug him back in carefully, hands clasped around the sleeves of his wet shirt and pulling him back inside. He'd stand there with a towel at the ready and give him a soft smile as he helped Keith dry his hair. Now when Keith thinks of the rain he thinks of Shiro. He tries to cut himself off before the pain in his heart strikes him more than the rain ever did.

 _In the night_

 _You came._

 _You found me in the rain._

Shiro felt indifferent about the rain. He never really thought too much about it, especially when he'd been on earth. As a child he enjoyed splashing in puddles as many children did. He remembered whining about the rain ruining his playtime, and he remembered watching raindrops splatter on the living room window.

His attitude changed slightly once he was at the garrison. Rain meant he'd have to race across the grounds in the hopes of getting to his classes mostly dry. Heavy rain especially meant watching Keith, the cadet he'd taken under his wing, walk outside in a near entranced state and having to drag him back inside. Rain also meant listening to the gleeful sounds of other cadets running around in the puddles and shouting at the top of their lungs, being the children that the Garrison said they ought not to be.

The rain brought people joy, but it also brought sadness. For Shiro, it often made him feel alive. Life, after all, wasn't just about surviving. Life was happy, and life was sad. Rain, just like Shiro, could often be expected to have its fair share of both the happy and the sad. Now, after being away from earth for so long, Shiro could barely even remember what rain felt like, nor the memories he had associated with it.

 _When I break,_

 _You stay_

 _A lovestruck hurricane._

If Allura was being entirely honest, she wasn't too sure what exactly rain involved. She'd first heard about it from Lance during one of the times that he insisted she sit with him and Hunk in what he called 'mani-pedi without the mani-pedi's time'. She wasn't too sure what a 'mani-pedi' was either but if it was as painful as it sounded she was glad that Lance didn't have the opportunity to give her one. Instead he and Hunk had told her about things from earth, and in return she had discussed with them some of her favourite memories of Altea. Neither of them had delved too into what exactly rain was, so all she had understood at the time was that it involved the skies opening and something falling down on the heads of the various inhabitants of Earth.

After researching the topic herself, she was led to the conclusion that rather than being something fundamentally dangerous, rain itself was in most cases rather harmless and much like the showers programmed to water the plants on Altea. While Allura would have to concede and say she had never truly experienced something like earth rain washing down upon the unprepared human as they went about their day, there was something cathartic about being in the fields during the showers.

Similarly to the suddenness of rain, back on Altea there were these types of flowers that would burst when it was blossoming time, sprinkling periwinkle blue and juniberry purple-pink petals all around the planet. There was nothing quite like the feeling of these flowers surrounding her as she made her way through the flower fields, something about them that made her feel so alive. There was a gaping emptiness in her heart when she remembered that they were destroyed along with Altea.

 _These chains were cut to fit_

 _My broken bones_

 _The steel is cold_

 _But feels like home._

Unlike Allura, Coran had experienced something like rain upon on of his travels as a young bachelor.

He had just celebrated his 27th moon-cycle when he, and Alfor, had visited a planet completely covered in purple and pink trees. The trees had swayed to and fro, despite there being no wind for them to do so, and whispered sweet humming sounds into the ears of the two Alteans. They had arrived on the planet initially to act as ambassadors of Altea, looking for a possibly ally in the fight against Zarkon. However, a few hours into the visit great purple droplets had fallen from the sky causing the trees to vibrate dangerously and cause bright flashes of light to burst from the tips of their swaying leaves.

The locals had apologised the sudden change in plans, and instead invited them inside the heart of the city. In the evening (more than 8 vargas after the initial abandonment of their mission) Coran had been wandering around the outskirts of the city, where the barrier between the exploding trees and the furthest of homes lay. Having spotted a rose coloured flower with golden dottings, Coran had crouched down to inspect it's unusual appearance, only to see a native looking at him curiously.

The visit had been a whirlwind event. Coran had spent the majority of this time with the native inhabitant of the planet Laodxae, a charming blue skinned and golden eyed Laodxaen named Thyra. Thyra had taught him of the Laodxaen culture, introduced him to several other inhabitants, and kissed him under the stars. He had always planned to return to the planet once Alfor had helped defeat Zarkon, having sent many letters Thyra's way during the war.

Having woken up 10,000 years later there was absolutely no doubt that Thyra, and quite possibly Laodxae itself, was dead. When Paladin number 5 had asked him if he had ever experienced rain for himself Coran had given them a smile and asked for them to explain it to him.

 _If only my heart_

 _These memories scarred_

 _Could ever forget this sin_

 _Then maybe I'd feel free to run._

Rain to Hunk meant having special family time indoors. Even with the lightest of drizzles, his mums would bring him inside for 'rainy day' activities. They'd bake together, or sometimes they would play games together upon the carpet.

An incredibly fond memory of Hunk's was one year when he and Lance were both 8 years old. Hunk remembered that Lance had moved to the town a few months beforehand so he had invited Lance round for a sleepover. During the day, they had been playing together outside. An hour or so into playing a particularly gruelling game of tag (in which Lance at one point had nearly fallen out of a tree), it had begun to hail and the two boys had been called inside. Obviously upset that their time outside had been called to an end, Hunks mums had both decided that the rest of the day should be a 'Garrett and McClain' fun-day. The fireplace had been put on, cookies were made and the Monopoly had been set out.

The day had ended with the soft sound of rain hitting the rooftop and Disney playing quietly on the small television screen.

Of course when Lance and Hunk both went to the Garrison, rainy days were often spent with them splashing in puddles outside in an attempt to briefly forget the stresses and pressure that the Garrison had placed upon them, but nevertheless they were just as important as the ones back home.

In space, with no rain to excuse 'family activities', Hunk often made sure to bake cookies and have movie/games night with Lance and the others at least once every week. He feared that if the 'not-actually-rainy rainy days' stopped then the rest of the team would become so involved in defeating Zarkon that they'd overwork themselves and fall apart. He also feared that if he didn't keep on the tradition, some small part in his heart would break and he'd lose a little of his parents day by day.

 _and the sky is painted red_

 _I can feel your heart again_

 _I can hear it in the wind._

One of Pidge's first memories was being at the beach with her family, several days before there was to be a big storm. She must have been around 3 or 4 years old and had stubbornly dragged a doll through the sand as the Holts trekked across the seafront. After responding to her parents suggestion of them carrying her to their designated resting spot with an indignant 'no!', young Katie Holt had been determined to make the whole journey by herself. She had walked confidently at first, one fist curled tightly around the left leg of the unlucky blonde haired blue eyed baby-doll and the other clasped loosely in the hand of a 13 year old Matt.

After the Holts had arrived at a relatively quiet spot and set up their towels, Katie had flopped town onto the sand and gave her parents a 'I told you I could do it!' look.

An hour later saw Katie making a sandcastle watching her father and brother swim around in the ocean while her mother sat contently reading a book. Giving a quick glance in her mother's direction to make sure she was looking away, Katie stood up and made her unsteady journey towards her dad and Matt. Surely they could see that she was old enough to play in the water too? Half an hour after that found Katie sitting beside Matt, coughing up water every now and again, with her parents fretting behind her as she huddled under several towels.

While nearly drowning at age 3 (or 4, Pidge still couldn't remember her exact age at the time) was not exactly the most pleasant of memories, Pidge liked to think fondly back towards the times her family was together as that...a _family_.

While it hurt to remember the times they used to be together, especially at this specific moment when they were quite clearly _not_ , Pidge liked to remember the moments like her mum and her building a sandcastle, her father later on deciding to teach her how to swim and Matt carrying her back across the beach towards the car.

 _And you're calling out my name_

 _You're a lovestruck hurricane_

 _You're the thunder in the rain_

 ** _You carry me home._ **

* * *

Thanks to my friends Fi and Amaani for reading through bits and pieces, and thanks to everyone who has read this fic! :)

The song that I used throughout this fic was Hurricane by Truslow.

To anyone who knows me from my previous stories, I'm so sorry about the several year absence, I guess life kind of got away from me.  
Quick updates on me I guess:  
\- I'm 20 now  
\- I'm about to go into my final year of university  
\- I'm studying Medieval History  
\- I actually passed my A-Levels, I can't remember if I'd posted anything about that on the last fic I wrote, and I'm now currently a solid 2:1 at uni :P


End file.
